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Abstract

Charles Darwin's groundbreaking work on evolution has lead to a plethora of new
hypotheses in many different fields of science. Evolutionary psychology is one field that
has grown exponentially in recent years with new theorists proposing ideas. Robert
Trivers (1972) postulates that males and females possess a certain amount of resources
that can be invested in offspring, thus, giving the offspring a better chance in surviving.
Human males are high on parental investment compared to other species; men offer
protection, food, and knowledge as investment to their offspring to aid in their survival.
Men of high male potential parental investment (PPI) are attractive to females, allowing
these men to choose the most fertile, young women. It was hypothesized that men of
high PPI would search for younger females than men with low PPI. It was found,
however, that men of low PPI sought the youngest mates and men of high PPI sought the
oldest females. It was hypothesized that men without children would want them more so
than men already with children. The data confirm the hypothesis that men who already
have children are less likely to want more more so than men who do not have children.
Male parental investment also plays a role in the decision to want (more) children.